I Know You Rider

Lyrics:TraditionalMusic:Traditional

Played from the very earliest days of the Dead to the last.
More recently played by The Other Ones, by Bob Weir with Ratdog, and by Phil & Friends.
Almost invariably seguing out of China Cat Sunflower.

link to tapers' page (Standing On The Corner, I Know You Rider, Next Time You See Me, Sitting On Top Of The World, You Don't Have To Ask, Big Boss Man, Stealin', Cardboard Cowboy, It's All Over Now Baby Blue, Cream Puff War,Viola Lee Blues
)

24 May 1969

link to tapers' page (Doin' That Rag>He Was A Friend Of Mine>China Cat Sunflower>I Know You Rider>Death Don't Have No Mercy
)

Roots
Some of the lines is this song, such as
"Sun gonna shine in my back door someday"
date back a long way. But it seems that the song as we know it has its origins in
a version included in Alan Lomax's book "American Ballads and Folk Songs" in 1934.
The notes to the song say "An eighteen-year old black girl, in prison for murder,
sang the song and the first stanza of these blues." Alan Lomax added a number of
floating verses from other sources and named it 'Woman Blue.'

Credit for the resurrecting it is claimed by Bob Coltman. He says:

"I resurrected and debuted the song. I followed the tune given in Lomax,
roughly but not exactly, changed the song from a woman's to a man's viewpoint,
dropped two verses, and was its first arranger, voice and guitar in a heavy drag
downbeat, sort of an early folk-rock sound.

"I sang it a lot in folk circles around Philadelphia, in concerts, around Boston,
mostly at the legendary Old Joe Clarke's, and in Dartmouth Outing Club
hiker/climber/skier circles, which took me around New York State and New England
circa 1957-60. I also sang it in the west, in Wyoming/Tetons "Teton Tea Parties"
and on the West Coast, especially in San Francisco and Los Angeles,
late summer-early fall '59. Then I went in the Army (sorta like prison) and
everything went on hold."

[Lomax verse 2]
Well, I'm going down the road where I can get more decent care
Oh yes, I'm going down the road where I can get more decent care
Going back to my used-to-be rider, 'cause I don't feel welcome here

[Lomax verse 6]
Just as sure as the birds fly, fly in in the sky above
Just as sure as the birds fly, fly in in the sky above
Life ain't worth living when you ain't with the one you love

[Lomax verse 10]
Well, the sun's gonna shine on my back porch some day
I said, the sun's gonna shine on my back porch some day
Then the wind from the river's gonna blow all my troubles away

[chorus]

[Non-Lomax verse]
Well, I ain't got a nickel, no, I ain't got a lousy dime
Well, I ain't got a nickel, no, I ain't got a lousy dime
But I got a long way to go 'fore the end of my time

[chorus]

[Non-Lomax verse]
It takes a hard hearted woman to make a long time men feel bad
It takes a hard hearted woman to make a long time men feel bad
'Cause it makes him remember the long hard road that he's had

[chorus]

Mama Cass with "The Big Three" (her, Tim Rose
and James Hendricks) recorded a version in 1963 under
the title "Rider":

James Taylor recorded a version on his first album in 1968 under the title "Circle Round The Sun":

[Lomax verse 5]
Now, I love my baby, and she's bound to love me some
Yes, I love my baby, and she's bound to love me some
Now, she throws her arms around me just like a circle around the sun

[Lomax verse 3]
I lay down last night just to try to take my rest
I said I lay down last night, Lord, I was trying to take my rest
But my thoughts they just kept wandering just like them wild geese in the west

[Lomax verse 10]
Now I know that sunrise, sunrise, it's gonna shine in my back yard someday
I said I know that sunrise, sunrise, sunrise, it's gonna shine in my back yard someday
And that wind's just bound to rise up, gonna blow, blow all my blues away

[Lomax verse 5]
I love my baby and she's bound to love me some
Hear me say that I love my baby, and she's bound to love me some
Now, she throws her arms around me just like a circle around the sun

"I wish I was a headlight"
None of these versions have the "I wish I was a headlight"
verse that the Grateful Dead sing. The earliest references I can find for that
are a recording by Karen Dalton's in 1962 under the title "Blues Jumped The
Rabbit" and one by Judy Henske in 1964 titled "Blues Chase Up A Rabbit". Both
those songs seem to derive from Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Rabbit Foot Blues"
recorded in 1926, but that doesn't include the "wish I was a headlight" verse.
Some versions of "Chilly Winds" (eg John Stewart's) include the verse, but
these seem to date from later. It isn't clear to me where Karen Dalton (or Judy
Henske) got it from, or indeed how it found its way into the Dead's version.

Karen Dalton's version:

When the blues jumped up a rabbit
Rabbit he ran a mile
Poor little rabbit
Crying like a new-born child

Wish I was a headlight
On some western train
I'd shine my light
On cool Colorado rain

[etc]

Judy Henske's version:

Oh I wish that I was a headlight
Shining on the eastbound train
I'd shine my little light
On cool Colorado rain

Other versions of "Blues Chase Up A Rabbit" have it slightly differently (and
less like the Dead's version):

I wish I was a headlight
On some lonesome southbound train
I'd follow you baby
Wouldn't be back again

John Stewart's version in "Chilly Winds":

Wish I was a headlight
On a west bound train
I'd shine my light on
Cool Colorado rain
Out where the chilly winds don't blow

Note that between these versions and the Dead's, all the points of the compass
are covered (north, south, east and west)!